PROF. OKOTH SHEILA

Citation:

Okoth S. "Determining resistance to Fusarium verticillioides and fumonisin accumulation in African maize inbred lines resistant to Aspergillus flavus and aflatoxins." Euphytica. 2017;213(4):93.

Abstract:

Fusarium verticillioides and Aspergillus
flavus cause Fusarium ear rot (FER) and Aspergillus
ear rot (AER) of maize, respectively. Both pathogens
are of concern to producers as they reduce grain yield
and affect quality. F. verticillioides and A. flavus also
contaminate maize grain with the mycotoxins fumonisins
and aflatoxins, respectively, which has been
associated with mycotoxicosis in humans and animals.
The occurrence of common resistance mechanisms to
FER and AER has been reported. Hence, ten Kenyan
inbred lines resistant to AER and aflatoxin accumulation
were evaluated for resistance to FER, F.
verticillioides colonisation and fumonisin accumulation;
and compared to nine South African lines
resistant to FER and fumonisin accumulation. Field
trials were conducted at three localities in South Africa
and two localities in Kenya. FER severity was
determined by visual assessment, while F. verticillioides
colonisation and fumonisin content were
quantified by real-time PCR and liquid chromatography
tandem mass spectrometry, respectively. Significant
genotype x environment interactions was
determined at each location (P B 0.05). Kenyan
inbred CML495 was most resistant to FER and F.
verticillioides colonisation, and accumulated the lowest
concentration of fumonisins across localities. It
was, however, not significantly more resistant than
Kenyan lines CML264 and CKL05015, and the South
African line RO549 W, which also exhibited low FER
severity (B5%), fungal target DNA (B0.025 ng lL-1
)
and fumonisin levels (B2.5 mg kg-1
). Inbred lines
resistant to AER and aflatoxin accumulation appear to
be promising sources of resistance to F. verticillioides
and fumonisin contamination.
Keywords Fusarium ear rot Aspergillus ear rot
Resistance Mycotoxins Maize inbred lines
In

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